Give Thanks
by Rena the Turk Intern
Summary: SasukeSakura. She had risked her life to protect him, and sacrificed a part of herself. The least he could do was give thanks.


I never really see any good Sasuke/Sakura fanfics, and I just decided to write one, even if it isn't that good. I'm actually really surprised that there are nit many Sasuke, Sakura fanfics just because after analyzing Sasuke and Sakura, when I was bored, I realized they'd be one of the most logical pairings in Naruto. The others were Naruto/Hinata and Gaara/Temari. By the way, are Gaara and Temari related? This confuses me to no end, considering I love this pairing but am called weird by some people for think Gaara and Temari would be good together cause they might be siblings and have refrained from asking anyone this question to keep from seeming too ill informed about Naruto.Anyways, this is just a cute little oneshot, unless people like it and want me to add to it. And that's the end of the tangent.

Disclaimer: Am I rich? Do I own Gaara? No, so what makes you think I own Naruto

Give Thanks

When you're protecting someone, you only think about their safety, not your own. This is the way Sakura felt as the blade sliced through her hair, surprising all the people watching the battle with the ninjas of the sound. Sakura looked at her hair, hanging in Kin's grasp, and felt sadness come over her.

_**"I heard Sasuke likes long hair!"**_

Would Sasuke now reject her? Sakura stood up, once again fighting. Her abused body screamed its protests, but she didn't heed them. She had to protect Sasuke and Naruto, and she would not allow any of these ninjas to harm them. She fought, and continued to fight until Ino and her group came. However, the ninjas seemed unbeatable, and Sakura wondered if anyone could beat these monsters. Then, Sasuke awoke from his feverish sleep and started to fight.

Sakura watched in horror as someone, not Sasuke, fought. His sharingan eyes blazed, and Sakura saw the black flames weaving up his body, laying claim to his flesh.

_**"Sasuke will come to me..."**_

Orchimaru (I will never spell this name right, forgive me...(cries)) had said that. What if Sasuke did go to him. Sakura felt fear, and all she wanted was for her friend and teammate to snap out of whatever trance he had gone into. Before she knew what she was doing, Sakura had thrown her arms around him, begging him to come back to reality. She was sure that if she hadn't been so scared about Sasuke, she would have loved the feeling of Sasuke in her arms. Sasuke looked at her with his sharingon eyes, and Sakura wondered if he would attack her. However, it would be worth it if she kept him alive. If she lost Sasuke...she had no idea what she would do. He just had to come back!

Then, the flames left his body, and he fell to the ground, confused and disoriented. He looked around, looking at the scene around him. His eyes fell on Sakura, and she thought he saw a bit of sadness or some other strange emotion at the way he looked at her hair. Then, he got up, a bit wobily at first and walked away. Soon they all left the clearing, and Sakura began to feel the effects of staying up for about 36 hours and fighting to the point she had. She felt disoriented and exhausted, walking on wobbily legs as she followed after Naruto and Sasuke. Her body was in pain, and her clothes soiled with blood and dirt. All she wanted to do was sleep. Naruto was complaining about his own aches and pains, and it began to grate at Sakura's nerves. "Naruto, shut up, you're not the only one who was hurt," said Sakura, gingerly walking after them. Naruto looked at her. "Sakura-chan! You look really bad!" he said. Sakura glared. "Thanks for the compliment," she muttered. "No really Sakura-chan! You should sit down!" said Naruto, scared about her health. Sasuke looked at his two teammates but did nothing to help either of them. Sakura shook of Naruto. "I'm fine," she insisted, quickening her pace despite her body's protests. The forest around her was starting to darken and Sakura felt herself feeling more and more tired. She could now barely make out the symbol on the back of his shirt. A root caught her foot and Sakura felt herself fall into darkness.

When she awoke, Sakura could hear the sounds of a river. She also felt warm. A crackle was heard and Sakura guessed there was a fire nearby. Maybe that was why she was warm. She heard splashing again, and opened an eye. She was lying besides a fire, Naruto's all too familar orange jacket laying over her as a kind of blanket. She looked over towards where the splashing sound had come from and saw that Sasuke and Naruto were fishing. She watched as they did this. Naruto would dive into the water and splash around, scaring the fish. Then, as the frightened fish jumped into the air, Sasuke killed them with a kunai. Sakura watched as they did this for awhile before rising up, pushing the jacket off herself and feeling a bit better then before. She walked over to them, eager to know how long she had been out. Naruto was just climbing out of the water when she came over. He smiled as he saw her.

"Sakura-chan! You're awake!" he cheered. He ran over and hugged her, soaking her in the process. "Yeah, I'm alright. How long was I out?" asked Sakura. "About 2 hours. You were really out cold!" said Naruto. Sasuke walked up to her. "Are you sure you should be walking around?" asked Sasuke. Sakura stared at him. Was Sasuke really concerned about her? "I'm alright, thanks for your concern," she said. "If you were to fall ill it could endanger our success in this exam. We already have to find another scroll since the first one is now a pile of ashes," said Sasuke. Sakura nearly fell over. It hadn't been concern for her, it was concern for the exam, how predictable Sasuke could be. "Sasuke! You should be nicer to Sakura-chan! She risked her life and protected us! You owe her a thank you Sasuke!" yelled Naruto. Sasuke ignored the boy to sit by the fire and started cooking the fish. Naruto looked at Sakura. "Thank you Sakura-chan," he said, hugging her again. Even though Sakura didn't like Naruto all that much, past prejudices against the demon inside of him, she still hugged him back, relaxing in his grasp.

The three of them settled down and ate the fish that Naruto and Sasuke had caught. Then, even though he had promised to stay up and keep watch, Naruto fell asleep, snoring loudly. Sakura yawned and sighed. She felt tired but chose to stay awake, not wanting to show anymore weakness infront of Sasuke.

_**"You have no talent."**_

Sakura could still hear the words, and she knew they were true. If it hadn't been for Lee, and Ino and her group, They would have been killed. "Why am I so weak? Why can't I be stronger!" Sakura wondered. She was unaware that Sasuke was watching her as she sat there, contempating why she was so weak. He had noticed her hair was shorter when he came to. He had seen the strands lying around on the ground and had figured out what had happened. It was too bad, she had looked nice with long hair, not that he thought anything of her. She was a teammate, and an annoying one at that, with the immature crush on him and her annoyingly cheerful personality. he couldn't afford himself to get close to someone like that, with the mission he had. He had to kill Itachi, and he could let nothing stand in his way.

"Sasuke?"

Her voice broke through his thoughts and he looked at her. "Hn?" he asked, his usual response. "D...Do you think I'm any good?" Sasuke was a bit surprised she would ask something like that. "It's alright, I can handle your opinion," she said quietly. She expected him to tell her how useless she was. How she held no positive prospects. How it must have been a fluke that she managed to pass and become a shinobi in the first place. She waited for him to speak.

"I think you're a strong individual Sakura."

Sakura fell on the ground from shock. "EH!" she asked, her eyes wide. "You're still very weak, and I doubt you will ever get any better without training, Sakura. However, the way you fought today, it showed how capable you are of holding your own in a battle," said Sasuke, who continued looking at the fire. Sakura blinked. That was the nicest thing she'd heard Sasuke say to anyone! She stared at him as if he had flowers growing out of his ears.

They were quiet for awhile, Sakura still in shock from what Sasuke had told her, and Sasuke had never been much of a talker anyways. Finally, with the silence grating at her nerves, Sakura chose to speak. "So...um...how are you feeling?" asked Sakura. Sasuke didn't reply. Sakura sighed. "I was...really scared last night, you were so sick," she said mostly to herself then to Sasuke. She rubbed her eyes, feeling more tired. "I...I didn't know if you'd wake up really...you were so pale. I was so afraid that if closed my eyes, even for a second...when I opened them...you'd be gone..." Sakura yawned. "How stupid is that?" she muttered, chuckling a little. Sasuke looked away from the fire, checking a noise he heard. Then, he looked at Sakura, studying her. She kinda looked nice with short hair, even though he had preferred her with long hair. He noticed that she looked tired. He couldn't afford to have her pass out on them again. "Get some sleep," he commanded her. Sakura looked at him. "Sasuke, I'm fine, you don't have to worry about me," she said. Sakura smiled. "I can afford to pull another all nighter," she said. She looked at Sasuke. "You should get some sleep, after what happened you need it," said Sakura. Sasuke shook his head. "I'm not tired," he said. He looked at Sakura, who now was looking at the fire.

"You look nice with short hair." Sakura looked at Sasuke. "What?" she asked. "Don't get me wrong, you looked better with long hair, but you look very good with short hair as well," said Sasuke. Sakura eyed him. "Who are you and what have you done with Sasuke?" she asked. Sasuke looked at her, giving her a "don't be stupid" look. Sakura sighed. "That's the first compliment I think you've ever given to me," said Sakura. "So what," Sasuke questioned. "So, it's just nice, thank you," said Sakura. Sasuke said nothing. "Get some sleep Sakura, now," he said. Sakura sighed. "I already told you-" "Sakura, the last thing we need is you fainting or getting sick. We need you to be strong and help us in this exam. It's not over Sakura, so, get some sleep while you can," said Sasuke. Sakura looked at him, then sighed. "Alright, but wake me if anything happens," said Sakura. "I will," said Sasuke. He watched Sakura fall asleep and went back to watching the fire.

He could remember very little of what happened after he was bitten, except the pain he'd felt. He was barely aware of where he was, all his senses were running wild. Then, he smelled it, that familar frangrance of shampoo that she used. It was calming, an anchor into reality as he sprialed in pain and nightmares. He was aware of a cool compress upon his head. He could hear her voice, soothing his nightmares, and the pain that lingered. He felt relaxed, at peace, and continued to sleep on until he awoke in her arms, the cursed mark having spread and forced him to fight the ninjas that had attacked. He now found himself wondering about this strange gift he'd been given. He now had the arsenal he might need in the battle with his brother. However, to really understand this arsenal, he would need help from the one who gave him this gift, and he didn't want to see that man anytime soon.

he looked at Sakura's sleeping form and noticed some of her hair was out of place. He gently brushed it from her face, happy with how peaceful she looked. Unlike him, she probably never had nightmares of the murderer of her family, one of her own kin. He wished he could be like her, free from his misery and hate. But he was an avenger, to remain imprisoned until Itachi died. He watched her sleep for a while, before leaning in close. She had been his anchor to reality when he dreamt nightmares, an angel who protected him from harm and the sound ninjas. He owed her a lot, but he would never tell her that. He smiled at her, the most beautiful woman he'd ever see.

"Thank you," he whispered quietly, before kissing her cheek.

And in her sleep, Sakura smiled.

End

Well, how was that? I hope I didn't make Sasuke too OOC. If I did I'm sorry. Anyways, reviews appreciated. Critcism not so much. Please no flames.


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